Last updated Nov 29, 2025
marketseconomy
There will be a significant downturn or correction in risk assets and a clear manifestation of the inflation/stagflation problem within roughly 8–18 months of October 2021 (i.e., by mid‑ to late‑2023), after a window in which investors can still reposition portfolios.
I mean, look, I think you got a year to 18 months to kind of clean this stuff up... But it's coming. Um, and I hope I'm wrong, but I think we'll look back on this and we'll say we said it probably 8 to 12 months before it really reared its ugly head. But it's coming.View on YouTube
Explanation

Chamath’s core claims were that (1) inflation and related macro problems were not transitory and would really show up within roughly 8–18 months, and (2) this would cause a significant downturn in risk assets after a window in which investors could still reposition.

What actually happened:

  • Risk‑asset downturn: The S&P 500 peaked on January 3, 2022 and then fell about 25% to its October 2022 low; it finished 2022 down 19%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 33% that year.(en.wikipedia.org) That is a clear, broad correction/bear market in equities and especially growth/tech "risk assets," materializing about 3–12 months after his October 2021 comments—well inside his 8–18‑month window.
  • Inflation / stagflation problem: US CPI inflation surged to a 40‑year high of about 9.1% in June 2022 and remained elevated through 2022; by mid‑2023 it was still around 4.9%, above the Fed’s 2% target.(en.wikipedia.org) The Fed responded with rapid rate hikes in 2022, putting monetary policy into the “really, really tighter posture” he anticipated.(podscripts.co) Real GDP was negative for two consecutive quarters in early 2022, a common shorthand for recession, occurring alongside very high inflation—fueling widespread discussion of a stagflation‑like environment.(en.wikipedia.org)
  • Timing and the ‘window’: Markets stayed near highs into late 2021 and only rolled over decisively after the start of 2022, giving investors several months after his October 2021 warning to reposition before the worst of the drawdown and rate‑hike cycle.(en.wikipedia.org)

While the US never had classic 1970s-style stagflation (unemployment stayed relatively low), the combination of a sharp risk‑asset selloff and a very clear, historically large inflation problem emerged squarely within his 8–18‑month horizon. On that basis, the prediction is best judged as right.